With the opening in theaters May 16 of the new sci-fi action flick, Star Trek Into Darkness (hereinafter “Into Darkness”), it won’t only be Trekkies paying rapt attention. Into Darkness has already drawn the attention of the synchro-mystic guru, Loren Coleman, who notes that the film contributes to the bombed-city cultural leitmotif that is au courant.N2

Even a cursory glance at the plot summary on Wikipedia indicates that the movie appears to bristle with occult references.N3 Besides the “Pike” surname, familiar to the Star Trek franchise generally, and evocative of the Freemasonic magus Albert Pike, this latest deep-space excursion includes notable mentions for such curious proper nouns as “Nibiru” (alias for the so-called earth-destroying “Planet X” a.k.a. “Marduk”) and the time-obsessed “Kronos” (about which we will have more to say later). It is sure to keep name-analyzing onomatologists quite busy.

Students of numerology can scarcely feel left out, however, as the movie appears to have not a little of interest numerically as well. Hermetic researcher Jay Weidner N4 might take notice of the reference to a distance “237,000 km” from earth.N5 A numerically significant 300 year artificially-induced sleep apparently figures into the plot.N6 There are even honorable mentions for the perennial 23 and 11 (e.g., the coordinates 23.17.46.11).N7 The 46 is also of interest, since it is the atomic number for the chemical element of palladium – a word which will crop up further on.

Perhaps most importantly though, from the standpoint of the plot, is the recurring mention of the number 72. In the words of the Wikipedia summary, there are “72 long-range prototype photon torpedoes” that are really “cryogenic pods with Harrison'sN8 72 colleagues hidden inside”.

Now 72 is quite an interesting number to have numerological pride of place. In Kabbalah, the Hebrew Shemhamphorasch (or Shem ha-Mephorash, “the explicit name”) is variously described as “a 72-letter name for God...[God's] full and proper name” or as “72 names of God in the Hebrew tongue.”N9 Other sourcesN10 give the Shemhamphorasch as an enumeration of the names of 72 angels (or demons).N11

These Kabbalistic notions are close cousins with the Islamic notion of “72 Virgins (houri) in Paradise.” Additionally: “In Islam, 72 is the number of sects or denominations that are doomed to Hell, according to Hadith (Sayings of prophet Muhammad).”N12

72 is a heavily symbolically-implicated number, it seems.N13 Even a cursory glance at Wikipedia's article on “72,” will reveal many curious connexions.N14

For present purposes, however, we will concern ourselves with the primary earth-bound location named in the film.

Students of high finance, international wire-pulling organizations and even Freemasonry will be watching to see what develops from a terror attack scenario apparently based in the City of London. Known as “the Square Mile,” this small enclave is totally distinct from greater London and has been described as the richest tract of land on earth.N15

At the same time as heavy influence over world monetary affairs is wielded from the City, what is much less well-known is that control over the entire international structure of time and space is arguably based nearby under control of the same cryptic power organism.

The Tower of London (top), built on an ancient hill-fort, as Francis Dashwood would later so build his Hell Fire Club headquarters at Wycombe,N16 has been the subject of numerous cinematic productions. Rowland Lee's 1939 film starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Barbara O'Neil (bottom); Roger Corman's 1962 flick, with Vincent Price (not pictured).

For we can now disclose that the Prime Meridian of longitude at Greenwich was established by high adepts of alchemy and occult orders starting from the chief medieval monument in England, the legendary Tower of London. The meridian, of course, anchors not only longitude and latitude, which back up the legal description of every piece of property in the developed world. It also forms the basis point for what is now known as the Universal Time System (formerly Greenwich Mean Time).

Moreover, latest developments in time-measurement technologies based in the U.S. have carried the Greenwich-based operation forward into new orders of magnitude with the Global Positioning System (GPS) extending the secret domination to outer space. (We hope to demonstrate these latter flourishes in a further installment.)

For a general introduction to the heavily occultist-guided City of London, see HERE.

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The spectre of a successful terror attack against London is not merely the province of science fiction. Readers will recall the 7/7 Terror Attack of July 7, 2005 targeting three underground trains and one bus. One of the persons fingered for this bombing was Mohammad Sidique Khan.N17 It turns out that “Khan” is also the true identity of the antagonist in Into Darkness.

As we write this, the news media are preoccupied with a fresh terror attack – the “First...since 7/7...”.N18 Specifically occurring in the London district of Woolwich, this brings in Greenwich (since “Woolwich... is... located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich...”),N19 a locale that we will take up in detail in a subsequent post. Here we will simply note that not only did the attack occur in the mystically-significant Greenwich-area, but the victim, a twenty-five year old British soldier named Lee Rigby,N20 was, at the time of his murder, “...assist[ing] with duties at Regimental Headquarters in the Tower of London.”N21

London is a city that has numerous mystical places, some of which supposedly serve as talismanic protections. These attacks invite the question, Has one (or more) of the City's protective charms failed?

Brân in a tarot representation, as emperor (top); Bran Stark (bottom), who calls himself “Bran the Broken,” is a character from George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire(as well as the cable television series, Game of Thrones).

In primeval Britannia, even before the reign of the mythic King Arthur, ruled the Welsh giant known as Brân the Blessed.N22 In the legendary history of BritainN23 it was said that after (Roman Emperor) Diocletian's (numerologically-significant) thirty-three wicked daughters slaughtered their husbands, they were exiled.N24 Decamping at England – which they named “Albion,” ostensibly after the eldest daughter, AlbaN25 – they proceeded to interbreed with demons, spawning a race of giants,N26 in a Nephilim-type scenario (at least, under one interpretation of Genesis 6:4-5).N27

The Elizabethan magus, John Dee, devised a key cipher - the “Monad” – that he published in his book, Monas Hieroglyphica (1564). (Incidentally, Gottfried Leibniz also gets into “monads” in his 1714 treatise, La Monadologie.) Dennis Hauck writes that “...the cipher...was considered so important...that it became known around the world as the Greater Seal of London.”

In any event, the name “Brân” signifies “raven” or “crow.” These black birds have great importance in alchemy – particularly during the so-called nigredo (“blackening”) phase.N28

Brân finds himself embroiled in a conflict concerning the marriage of his sister. Fighting ensues, during the course of which Brân is mortally wounded. He then instructs his remaining comrades:

“[T]ake you my head...and bear it even unto the White Mount, in London, and bury it there with the face towards France.”N29

In fact, there was an interim period between Brân's ritual beheading and the burial of the head under “the White Mount” – “...as the Tower is known in Welsh lore.” (Note: The “White Tower” is the keep of, and oldest structure in, the complex known as “The Tower of London.”) During this intermediate period, Brân's followers “...live for eighty years without perceiving the passing of time.” It can be truly said, however, that the “time-machine” Tower-site was a mystical place of power well before the Norman invader, William the conqueror, put Bishop Gundulf up to the task (in A.D. 1078) of constructing what it now called the “White Tower.”N30

Somewhat parenthetically we note that the interval between decapitation and interment was “fourscore and seven years...” – the same length as that interval between the American Declaration of Independence in 1776 and Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address in 1863.N31

“Palladium” (def.) “'safeguard,' ...'sacred image of Pallas Athene,' from Latin palladium, from Greek Palladion, ...'of Pallas.' It stood in the citadel of Troy and the safety of the city was believed to depend on it.”N32

The upshot is this: “The palladium of Britain,N33 associated with its chief city, is the head of Bran... . As long as the king's head is buried at a certain point, then the land cannot be conquered.”N34

The Green Knight plays a beheading game with Sir Gawain (top); Green Man,N35 in a tarot depiction (center); A character named “Bran” also appears in a Marvel “She-Hulk” comic (bottom), where the “She Hulk” is clearly a green woman;N36

A recent bit of news: “Police hunt woman dressed as the Incredible Hulk over alleged attack outside McDonald's” (top);N37 Shall we take this opportunity to insert a gratuitous plug for our follow-up post on Greenwich? (The Wicked Witch of the West, a “green witch,” – bottom).

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh link Brân' to the “Green Man” and observe, in this regard, that the buried head “... performed functions strikingly similar to those performed by the Grail in the later romances.”N38

Going further, the duo note that, amongst the allegations made against the Knights Templar in the 14th century, was that they “...worshipp[ed] a mysterious severed head sometimes known as 'Baphomet'.”N39

As an added wrinkle, it is said that “...King Arthur dug up the head...”. Whither the British palladium?N40

As a hedge against a devalued dollar, we are urged to buy gold and silver...but palladium? Indeed.

“One strange aspect of this story is that the raven...can still be found around the White Mound. The story now is that destruction will come to London if the ravens ever leave...”. We note that this connexion implicates the Stuart monarch King Charles II (about whom, more later) who “...decree[d] that at least six ravens should be kept at the tower at all times.”N41

London occultists are not putting all of their raven eggs in one basket, however. No, the magical protection of the City of London may also be apportioned to several looming dragon statues,N42 variously placed.N43 Variously guardians or emissaries of evil,N44 they are associated with riches and “...treasure, and as such are enemies which must be defeated if the treasure is to be won.”N45

Given its financial clout, then, we should not be too surprised to learn that “...the city of London is a dragon city...”.N46 The city's emblem displays the motto Domine Dirige Nos (“Lord, direct Us”) on a banner underneath “[t]wo Tudor Dragons”.N47

Here one is apt to encounter a bit of misdirection, as at least a few of the London dragons are sometimes called “Griffins.”N48 However, we are most definitely dealing with dragons – ensigns reflecting the “...Dragon statues that mark the boundary of the City itself.”N49

Temple Bar, the 17th-century architectural creation of the one-time Freemasonic Grand Master, Christopher Wren, traditionally served as one of the main regulated gateways into the City of London. “Its name is derived from its vicinity to the Temple Church, the former English Headquarters of the Knights Templar, subsequently the place where the guilds of lawyers were organised into what would become the Inns of Court.”N53 Baigent and Leigh comment that “'Barram Novi Templi', or Temple bar, where Fleet Street meets the Strand, was the gate opening into the [Templar] Order's precincts.”N54

Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) visits the Temple Church in the 2000 movie, The Da Vinci Code.

“Of all the sacred places in London, the Temple Church is probably the most psychically charged.”N55 It was consecrated in 1185 and expanded with a “rectangular chapel” from the original, entirely circular, apse.N56 Similar to the Rosslyn Chapel,N57 and incongruously with its ostensibly Christian purpose, the Temple Church contains representations of “grotesque heads” besides its famous knight effigies.N58

The City of London is presided over by the Lord Mayor. In bygone times, before entering the city, the English sovereign would stop at the Temple Bar gate and engage in a sort of ritual with the Lord Mayor. “The ceremony is still carried out today on major state occasions when the Queen halts at the Temple Bar to request permission to enter the City of London and if offered the Lord Mayor's Sword of State as a sign of loyalty.”N60

On the numerous other dragon “boundary markers” surrounding the City of London, see HERE.

As one curious example of the far-flung influence of the City, the main attraction in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, is the London Bridge.N61 In 1968, businessman Robert Paxton McCullochN62 purchased the iconic bridge from the City of London and painstakingly disassembled, transported here and reassembled – all to the tune of nearly ten million dollars.

“... Lake Havasu residents... watched in amazement as the historical pieces of granite piled up at a nearby Havasu worksite. Even more amazing, was watching the transformation of the peninsula into an island, as a mile-long bridge channel was dredged, giving purpose to the transplanted landmark. Included with the bridge purchase, were the unique lampposts, molded from French cannons captured during the 1815 battle of Waterloo.

“The London Bridge officially opened on October 10,N63 1971, with a gala celebration. Opening day included an elaborate fanfare; spectacular fireworks, a parade, entertainment, dramatic release of hundreds of balloons and white doves, colorful hot air balloon landings, and celebrities, such as Bonanza fame [Lorne] Greene, and dignitaries such as the Lord Mayor of London.”N64

In addition, at the east end of Havasu's rebuilt bridge, a sizable replica of a City of London guardian dragon was erected on a pedestal which was so labeled on its base. So it was not without reason that James Shelby Downard,N68 an investigator of American anomalous sites and a pioneer of what we now call synchro-mysticism, spent a good bit of time pondering this tangled skein of remote-controlled crypto-political symbolism here. Jim Brandon recalled his experiences with his friend Mr. Downard’s Lake Havasu research and how it led to his own speculations around the enigmatic Four Corners area to the northeast. See the end note.N69

We would also be remiss if we didn't mention the London Stone. The nondescript and misshapen block of limestone seems a curious candidate for a protective charm. Nevertheless, we read that “[b]y the early 19th century, a number of writers had suggested that London Stone was once regarded as London's 'Palladium'...”.N70

Reporter Nick Barlay writes:

“Invisible London is a city of witches, ghosts, spectres, superstitions, legends, ley lines and occult geometries. Anyone looking for its mystical centre could do no worse than to glimpse the London Stone, moved from its original location to a setting in the wall of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation at 111 Cannon Street, EC4.

“The stone is said to have been laid, 1,000 years before the Roman invasion, by Brutus the Trojan, the mythical founder of London, who sailed up the Thames and fought the giants Gog and Magog. On the Stone is the inscription: 'So long as the stone of Brutus is safe, so long shall London flourish.' The stone could be the altar from a temple on Ludgate Hill, the site of St Paul's, or from a stone circle. Or it could be connected to a ley line in turn connected to the ancient London river, the Walbrook. Or it could be, as it states on its plaque, a fragment of the original limestone once in the ground in front of Cannon Street station, and connected to a former London mayor.”N71

Note: The broader London area has more oddities than can be rehearsed, presently. For just one example, we would have to mention the so-called “Cleopatra's Needle” Egyptian obelisk at Victoria Embankment on the Thames,N72 and many other strange objects and places – like “Hawksmoor's Pentagram.”N73 (Incidentally, the London obelisk is one of four – two pairs of twins.)

However, enchanted thingamajigs are not the only entities worthy of our notice. London has also had its share of magically-charged persons.

Although not widely known, arguably the most important of these personalities is Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk (1708–1782), otherwise known as the Baal Shem (“Lord of the Name”) of London. The reader will recall our earlier mention of the Shem Hamphorasch (“the ineffable name”), in conjunction with the discussion of the number 72. Note that this is the selfsame "shem" of which Falk was a reputed master.

Falk was an Eastern European Kabbalist and alchemist who not only has allegedly served as a protection for London,N74 but also has as good a claim as any to having been one of the superiores incogniti (“unknown superiors”) that the Baron Karl Gotthelf von HundN75 highlights as constituting the upper echelon of his Rite of Strict Observance and, indeed, of Freemasonry more generally.N76

Another “Dr. Falkon,” the character Stephen Falken, from the movie WarGames.N77 In the movie, Falken creates the supercomputer, “Joshua”N78 (a.k.a. the “WOPR”),N79 which nearly plunges the world into a nuclear World War III.N80

Suspected of having been explicitly masonically-connected himself, Falk – also sometimes known as “Dr. Falkon” – w as a known associate of the high-ranking General Charles Rainsford, who was “a prominent mason”. Recollecting London's immense financial clout, we also observe that "Falk's principal friends were the London bankers Aaron Goldsmid and his son."N81

Earlier this year, NBC reported that: “For the first time, the hairstyle of the Roman vestal virgins has been re-created on a modern head.”N82

Falk was regarded as a alchemist for such feats as being able to produce gold and create so-called “ever-burning lamps,”N83 which lamps Manly Hall associates with “the 'virgin lamps'...carried by the Vestal Virgins” (the moon-worshipping guardians of “the sacred fire of Vesta”).N84 The Vestal Virgins presided over lunar ceremonies and the manifestations of the triple-goddess (since the three-phased moon was believed to be the controller of menstruation).N85 Moon magicN86 variously involved human sacrifice or the sacrifice of “mannikin” proxies.N87

It is alleged that “[t]he Rabbi Jacob Falk taught sex magic to the notorious Cagliostro.”N88 This is unsurprising, really, both since the misleadingly named “Vestal Virgins” were, “[i]n many places”, none other than “sacred harlots” practicing magia sexualis,N89 and since streams of kabbalism, most obviously in Frankism (the system instituted by Jacob Frank), are infused both with sex magic and moon worship (e.g., in the “Kiddush Levanah” rite).N90 It seems that London is dracontic in multiple senses.N91

Falk's darker (perhaps black-magical) shenanigans are hinted at in accounts referring to his “kabbalistic devilry.”N92 The depth of this depravity is unclear, but besides the supposed sexual rituals, Falk has also been implicated in the mysterious death of the unnamed “...valet of the Comte de Westerloh [who] had his neck broken...when he [Falk] performed his famous sacrifice of the black calf in the garden of the Comte, in the presence of the Duc de Richelieu.”N93

Residing in Wellclose Square,N94 just east of the Tower, Falk was neighbors with the Swedish mystic and possible spy, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772). “...Swedenborg sought out Jewish Kabbalists in the East End, and he soon came under the spell of Dr. Samuel Jacob Falk...”.N95

See Falk's grave, HERE. (Nearby, apparently, is the grave of a Cohen whose grave stone, as the photographer describes it, displays “...hands making the sign of the priestly blessing [live long and prosper as Mr Spock would say!].” See it HERE.)

Finally, we must mention the satanist and occultist, Aleister Crowley. Fresh from Cambridge, and having just joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Crowley lived for a time at #67 Chancery Lane,N96 which today lies on the western edge of the Square Mile.N97 Crowley desired a more magickally-charged location, however (with “...a door facing north, the best direction in which to create a spell”N98), and soon abandoned his flat in the City of London and moved into his more famous residence, Boleskine House, on the shore of supposedly monster-inhabited Loch Ness in northern Scotland.

Rehearsing even highlights from Crowley's long career is well beyond our present scope. However, we invite the interested reader to (re-)visit the earlier post, HERE.

Also, stay tuned for our follow up post on Greenwich: In the meantime. We will not only dive deeper into the mystical toponomy (as James Shelby Downard would say) of England, but we will have an opportunity once again to mention “The Beast – 666,” Aleister Crowley.